congrats Nat, you guessed Laura Linney, wow no Angelina, I´m not sad. Yay for atonement and saoirse, and Tommy Lee Jones and Schnabel and Viggo and Ratatoille for best screenplay. I wanted Jodie and Ryan and James McAvoy, but you cant´[ have it all, but I always said if Angelica can score and Jodie cant´it´s an unffair world, well both are off now. Cate twice, oh how does it feel Nat? Liked, loved it? hate it? what´s your biggest suprise, what you liked most and hated most?

YES!!! The Into the Wild snub - and the Atonement love that came with it - was just the news I wanted to hear. Although, for me, even though I liked Atonement more as a whole the one nominee that made me scream with delight was SARAH POLLEY!!!! oh.my.god.!!!.

No Angelina Jolie! Blanchett and Linney! Tommy Lee in best actor is a bit shocking, too! Reitman for best director? WOW, quite frankly.

So glad Penn/Hirsch and the film got snubbed. I'd feel bad if I wasn't so over the moon that Atonement and Sarah Polley made it in!

The precursers really screwed up this year (if you go by those things). Only one SAG ensemble nominee got a best picture nomination. Plus all the SAG acting categories are missing at least one Oscar nominee (Jones, Linney, Hoffman, Ronan). And the DGA now has another notch against it missing both Atonement and Juno. Now we can all say "in 2008 the DGA only correctly correlated 3/5 with best picture".

- Into the Wild snubbed- Depp & Jones (not awful, but in such a strong year... make room! Especially when Jones would have made a worthy supporting nominee)- Blanchett for Elizbeth- Angelina Jolie snubbed- Affleck in supporting (knew this was going to happen, but still)- Hoffman- Best Song (I'm not even mad about Enchanted... but Into the Wild missing out for August Rush...? Gross)- Hairspray shut out completely- Norbit?- The sound branch's continued failure to justify two distinct categories

I'm happy I guessed Jason Reitman correctly (had him in 3rd position) but VERY sad that Tim Burton is snubbed yet again.

Now even I'm questioning the Foreign Film category....The movie from Kazakhstan is supposed to be gorgeous but tepid. Oh well, here in Japan people will be happy because the lead is "Japan's Johnny Depp", Tadanobu Asano.

I'm glad both Laura and Cate made it. Ms Jolie will just have to console herself with Mr Pitt. Am very very happy for Tommy Lee Jones (although I thought he'd get it for NCFOM). And really happy they didn't forget Casey Affleck. Was a bit worried.

the thing with LINNEY is this: you watch that movie and there is no way you don't love her. Even if I didn't think it was a great performance (i do) it's an adorable performance and they go for that. I just figured they were watching their screeners.

as for Blanchett over Jolie. That sucks since Jolie had a much harder role and was terrific and totally understood when to restrain and when to break loose and how to interplay with the huge team swirling behind her.

I'm pretty pissed that Blanchett got in over Jolie--you'd think the Academy would have been a little smarter about wanting to draw Brangelina to the awards, if there are any--but yay for Linney and Viggo! Too bad McAvoy couldn't get in, but he's young.

Such a white year at the Oscars--besides Ruby Dee. Not that that's anything new, but coming after the Hudson/Whitaker year, it seems so unbalanced. Too bad for Lust/Caution too.

I'm there with you Beau on the Into the Wild bitchslap. I know it's not a loved film round these parts - but I really loved it. It is the most beautiful-looking film of the year, "Eric Gautier woz robbed." As were Keener and Hirsch, especially Keener for her ever-so subtle and quietly affecting work.

I knew Across the Universe would get SOMETHING, but just wasn't game enough to predict it. Although in my Year in Advance predix I did predict it for costume design so GO ME!

SoSoSo happy for the crew of Ratatouille. Anim Feature, Screenplay, Score and two sound categories! All totally deserved.

As blah as the best song category is at least they've taken their new philosophe seriously and are trying to reward songs worked into the movie. Those three Enchanted noms just prove that a) Alan Menkin is their God and b) the system works. Serves New Line right for dumping "Ladies Choice" from Hairspray (better than all three Enchanted songs) for "Come So Far" - a closing credits song. SERVES THEM RIGHT!

Oh Billy D, you just reminded me that Lust, Caution got snubbed for its gorgeous score. It didn't have any hope anywhere else (because the Academy voters are obviously deaf and blind to the film) - but Desplat! Hello!

Actually it's a really mixed nominations roster for me. Really mixed, so much so that I can't even be that happy about the successes where their chances were shaky - Atonement, Ruby Dee...

Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises- hooray!!Laura Linney for The Savages- double hooray!!Sarah Polley for Away From Her- I actually had this in my predictions, no lieRatatouille for Original Score- almost makes up for Michael Giacchino's horrific snub for The Incredibles a few years backDouble love for Roger Deakins in Cinematography

The bad: Cate over Angelina in Best ActressHairspray shut outJason Reitman over...well, anyone, in Director

I'm very happy that Tommy Lee Jones got in for Elah...overjoyed that Laura Linney got in for The Savages...and positively ecstatic that Angelina Jolie got left out for that poor excuse for acting in A Mighty Heart!

I knew Tommy Lee Jones would get nominated!!! All those raves were not going to go to waste. Laura Linney's nominated!!!!!!!!! and I got all the Best Picture nominees right too!!!!! Atonement did great, scoring a Best Picture nod, as well as Juno who also get Best Director!!!

Picture: No Country for Old MenActor: Daniel Day-Lewis, although I think his main competition is going to be Tommy Lee Jones. He was a surprise nominee, but probably has the best chance of making it a race. The performance is that good.Actress: Ellen Page. Three foreigners in the race should tilt it towards the newcomer of the year. I am tempted to pick Linney because I don't think all four acting awards will go to foreigners.Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem and no one else even close.Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett will get rewarded for her two nominations.

All in all, I think Tommy Lee Jones has the best chance of any American in the acting categories although Day-Lewis will be tough to beat.

in a really sick way i'm starting to think that the makeup branch is TRYING to sully the AMPAS reputation. It's like they know it's a popularity contest and a joke so every year they nominate some movie that's sure to also be up for RAZZIES.

ugh.

and over sweeney todd and diving bell?

NORBIT. yeah, latex fatsuits. never seen that before. let's give it the oscar!

Barry, brain fart. I knew his father was Ivan but for some reason my brain went to Reiner. Similar name, I guess. Still, it applies to him. How awkward is the next family gathering of the Reitman's gonna be?

Because they only nominate "good" girls who have a quiet life outside the movies. Angelina is not a "good" girl". She talked a lot about her attraction to women, she talked a lot about cutting herself with knives, she talked about experiencing all kinds of drugs... then she adopted babies around the world and began dating Brad Pitt = bad girl gone good but still not good enough because her private life has been far TOO exposed, hence the snub THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.I mean, Blanchett's Elizabeth 2 : Attack of the Camp over the subtle work of Jolie in AMH ? GIVE ME A BREAK

Please forgive me, but I AM GOING TO RANT. Bold just means start-of-new-point so I don't go insane trying to keep track of everything I wanna say. If it annoys anyone, forgive me! Thanks!

The Jonny Greenwood business is just one of those moves the Academy seems like to make to double-certify that they're still run by a change-fearing old guard no matter how daring some of their choices appear. "Hey, however much stock people put in us, we're still a bunch of assholes, so you're more than welcome to continue to hate us! Just so you know!"

Three of the original screenplay nominees are ladies. Isn't that cool? Lady scripters don't often get much attention. From what I've read about Diablo Cody, she sounds impossibly noxious, but I expect her to win no problem.

Anyone think Mathieu Amalric has Oscar in his future? He was always an extreme longshot for this nod, but if he does more English-language work... anybody? God, what an actor. Yay Kings and Queen!

PSH's performance is very good, but in that company it sticks out like a sore thumb. I was hoping for a snub in favour of Paul Dano or (I had been praying) von Sydow. As long as I focus on the merits of the performance and not the unfortunate implications of the nom (viz. that he'll be a boring perennial) The film itself is underrated, not that I wanted it to earn any nominations or anything, but the drubbing it's recieved in some circles I feel is unmerited. Theo Panayides' positive review is 100% on the money in my opinion.

I'm sure Angelina was good in A Mighty Heart, but I won't lose sleep over her missing the nom. And I'm sure she won't either, she's got a good head on her shoulders. She's a good actress, but she's not 'fun to love' if you know what I mean, so I wouldn't be ecstatic for her nomination reception the way I am for Linney, who alongside Patricia Clarkson is, I think, the greatest American actress working regularly at the moment.

Much as I love Blanchett, I don't doubt that she doesn't deserve to double-dip. But I'm much too fond of her as an actress that I'll mind much if she ends up a default nominee for the next five years or so. She's a marvelous actress, and more importantly an exciting one, not a stolid one. I can't bring myself to be mad that something I've hoped to happen for years may now be happening, even if it'll be a little bit boring.

I'm really rather surprised at the complete lack of support for Into The Wild. I've not seen it but I like Emile Hirsch and I think I'd rather him than yet another Johnny Depp nod. Depp is king, don't get me wrong, but after he beat out Paul Giamatti, Liam Neeson and I forget who else for the nod in twenty o'four, I reckoned, "Fuck, they've finally recognized his genius but it'll be at the expense of more interesting performances every year!" I'm worried what's happened to Blanchett, which Nathaniel has a right to be mad about even if I'm not, will happen to Depp.

To be perfectly honest, I still kind of wish The Diving Bell and the Butterfly had been made with him as its star. Why? Because he'd be a certain nominee then, and he'd likely have pulled Max von Sydow, who's one of my favourite actors in screen history no matter how many bad action movies he shows up in, along with him. I revere Max Von, and it would have made me soaringly happy to see him get a nomination, twenty years after his first and only, in the year of dearest Bergman's passing.

Tommy Lee Jones in Best Actor is shrewd of them. I bet the actors (who you all knew had to have gone to see Elah after going wild for Crash, right? Of course they did! They might not have liked it, but no one seriously imagined they didn't see it, right?) cornered the No Countryites and made a pact with them thus, same as I reckon the Traffic voters did to get Soderbergh the sudden landslide in 2000 over Ang Lee.

Seeing Jason Reitman's name is a little jarring. I kind of expect I'm going to hate that film,despite how fond I am of Page and Cera. I think Juno is doubtless the frontrunner to win this year, even if someone else wins the Direction ("Directing"? No! Direction!) prize. I bet the same people who voted for this are all exactly the same people (all of them) who voted for Little Miss Sunshine, and they were annoyed at the Dayton/Faris snub last year so this year they were all like, "REVENGE!" Yes.

The music people at the Academy are really fucking boring, but they didn't embarrass themselves with any of their choices, at least not once the Greenwood disqualification was established. Fine composers. Still waiting for Carter Burwell, Clint Mansell, and a few others to score nominations, but they've done a lot worse in the very recent past. So glad John Williams isn't there for anything!

I expected a near-shotout for There Will Be Blood. THRILLED to be wrong.

Anyone ever seen Tony Gilroy's first film, the quiet character drama Spring Forward? It's good stuff.

Two Roger Deakins nominations! Both deserved! AND Robert Elswit! Has he been nominated before? How long do I need to wait for Christopher Doyle and Harris Savides to get nominations? Oh well, this will do for now.

I've never met Sarah Polley, but as a writer, as an actor, and as the person she presents herself to be, I love her so dearly I can barely stand it.

Aside from the Serbian film, the foreign films that made it seemed to me to be the most interesting out of the nine, although I kind of wish the Kazakh thingy by Sergei Bodrov (Prisoner of the Mountains dude! Is he back from falloff?) was a Mongolian submission instead because I want Mongolians to be happy. The Brazilian film sounded awful (no offense) and the Italian one was Tornatore, who I sort of loathe even though I admit I loved The Legend of 1900. So it could have been a lot worse. Next time, Romania!

Viggo Mortensen nabs the nom. Fuckin' A! He's such a marvelous actor. I expected he'd be the new Johnny Depp (i.e. outlaw star) now that Johnny Depp isn't Johnny Depp in Oscar's eyes anymore. But no, he's a nominee! Who wants to bet he doesn't show up at the Oscars? Or does and decries Bush when spoken to at the pre-show? Wouldn't that be righteous?

The Simpsons Movie is a lot less upsetting a snub than Waking Life in twenty-o-one, so I can live with it. The actual show jumped the shark some time ago in my opinion. Much as I revere its legacy. Me, I wanted Aqua Teen Hunger Force in there. Dada! Dada! Dada!

I am ECSTATIC at Tilda Swinton's Oscar nomination. I know it showed up on every shortlist but I was always like "That's Tilda fucking Swinton" and I just danced for happiness every time I saw her name. If you count the writing nominations for Julie Delpy in 2004 and my beloved Sarah Polley now, his means that almost every actress I love the most (top tier of love) who is Caucasian and Anglophone has recieved at least one Oscar nomination. The only ones still left are less likely because of their colour (nonwhite) or the language they usually work in (non-English), or in some cases they don't have the right role yet. The Academy still discriminates against nonwhites and non-Anglos enough that I suspect I can't reasonably expect noms for, say, Gong Li, Isabelle Huppert or Kerry Washington any time soon, even if they land the right roles. There are only a few white Anglophone lady actors currently working often enough that I really need to see get a nom sometime soon or I'll explode, the most important being the eternally undervalued Robin Wright. The list of white Anglo males is a lot longer, and when you add in nonwhites and non-Anglos, longer still. But I'm not going to be deterred! We're getting somewhere!

Speaking of Robin Wright, I haven't seen Into The Wild, but a director's nom for Sean Penn woulda made me happy because The Pledge is so completely fantastic.

RUBY DEE GOT IN HOLY SHIT I AM SO HAPPY SHE IS SO AWESOME. I miss Ossie Davis sooooooo much. You don't even know.

Matter of fact, the whole supporting actress field is classy as hell. My darling Kelly Macdonald will need to wait. None of these five deserved outright rejection in her favour, so I'm not too crushed that her beautiful face won't be beaming from the red carpet this year. It'll happen soon enough. I hope.

You guys, I just realized. I have no idea about this question. Bar Angela Bassett, who's the best current Black actress? Ruby Dee doesn't work often enough to count. Is it Kerry Washington? Regina King? S. Epatha Merkerson? Viola Davis? I feel like a disproportionate number of the greatest American character actors in the present day are Black men (Delroy Lindo, Charles S. Dutton, Robert Wisdom, Ving Rhames, Harry Lennix, and so forth), but who are their lady matches? There's no Black female actress I feel as strongly about as Delroy Lindo. I think Lindo is an underheralded genius. Anyone else have an opinion? Which Black actresses are the greatest working?

My single biggest disappointment is the absence of the song from Walk Hard. It was a lunatic joy that had three country stalwarts on the same track with my favourite music performer in the world, rapper Ghostface Killah. I can't say enough about Ghost, and the idea of him performing at the Oscars is an unimaginable delight that would make me so happy I'd be grinning like a drunken duck for months.

If they forget to include Edward Yang and Ousmane Sembene in the "Here's who passed on this year, we loved them" in-memoriam montage, I AM GOING TO BLOW A FUCKING GASKET. I actually sent them a letter reminding them that these two GIANTS OF WORLD CINEMA, plus Ulrich Muhe from The Lives of Others, had passed on, and requesting that they make sure not to forget them in the montage. They better do something sweeping to remember Antonioni and Bergman, too, or there'll be Hell to pay.

Can't be happier about Laura Linney and I'm glad Jolie missed for her one-note performance.

For me the head-scratcher is Ruby Dee. What in this performance was award worthy? It wasn't bad but it required nothing special and certainly was not the thing that stood out in that film. Just a wasted nomination.

i think the noms are great bar juno up for pic/dir,ruby dee over macdonald or redgrave and blanchett over adams and knightley did not care for jolie and felt her big scream was hammy & maybe hoffman for the least impressive of the 3 eprfs,v v suprprised at tommy lee i nactor showing up nowhere but he was pegged early and everyone forgot how great he was in the film better than hirsch,gosling even mcavoy who i would have had replace the so so overrated viggo perf.

Well for people who don't see the some of the things that Nate & Zee were talking about in the Bafta Nominations thread,, Head on over the The Envelope forums reactions thread a perfect example people all upset over Ruby Dee's nomination.

Why some of greatest British directors are constantly snubbed, even when thier films are some of the best of thier relative years?

"The Red Shoes" was not nominated for best direction. It was a very European movie made in England like "Atonement". Powell and Pressburger were missing in the Best Director list, as the magnificent Joe Wright has been today.

Ang Lee was snubbed for "Sense and Sensibility", as was Marc Foster for "Finding Neverland".

Does not sound it very intriguing?

European "auteurs" or very respected American filmakers (Schnabel) who like to film non-English-speaking movies do get recognition as Best Dircetors at the Oscars, but thier movies are ussually snubbed.

Sad, Sad, Sad...Very sad.

"Atonement" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" are some of the most artistic and best movies of 2007, but they will not be able to win the final prize.

Amy Adams, the most beloved female performer of 2007, has not gotten the nomination that so many people were still hoping for.

James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Vanessa Redgrave, Romola Garai were all absent. I love "Atonement", and 7 nominations are not enough for a masterpiece.

"Michael Clayton", with 7 nominations, seems very, very, very undeserving of so much applause.

Cate Blanchett as a double nominee seems too much for me in a very of so many delightful performances that if would be a crime not to cite them all.

"Juno" and "Michael Clayton" directors' slots should have been occupied by Joe Wright and Tim Burton. No doubt about it!

There were some nice surprises. In the end, they end up nominating three movies with a leading male, one movie with a leading female and one movie with a magical couple and the biggest diversity of characters, and the ones that show the most different emotions.

Time will go by, and our future generations will truly understand the movies of our times. That is the "Circle of Life" of cinema.

Angelina Jolie was the best she's ever been in "A Mighty Heart", and she should have been nominated for the performance.

I'm still fuming over both Eddie Vedder being snubbed/ineligible for "Guaranteed" in original song and Jonny Greenwood ineligible for the "There Will Be Blood" score. I mean, damn, there's plenty of room for those three dumb "Enchanted" song, but not even for ONE of Vedder's songs? Did voters just hate "Into the Wild" THAT MUCH? I can't believe that, since they seemed to have a perpetual hard-on for Sean Penn. Oh well.

so nathaniel viggo got a nod for fighting naked and giving us a rubbish russian accent and having no real character to speak of!!!! to me he was like the henchman in james bond pushed to the front and becoming less interesting as the film wore on!!!!

"Into the Wild" also was nominated for seven Critics Choice Awards and was recognized by the WGA and DGA in nods for Sean Penn. That's why a lot of people kept hope that the film would make a strong showing at the Oscars.

Woohoo, 5 for 5 on my Best Pic predix! Should've blogged them, but was too lazy this weekend...

In all other categories, I was off by 1-2. My "wtf's?" are the same as everyone else's.

Have to say I'm a little surprised so many people were skeptical about "TWBB" and "Juno." They both had ENORMOUS momentum building in late Dec. "NCOM" and "Michael Clayton" were always solids...The only one I vacillated on was "Atonement," but I stuck with it mainly because I couldn't see anything else replacing it. Its closest rivals felt as anemic in the momentum department as it did. Except maybe "Diving Bell," and that...well, it's a foreign film, and foreign films, sad to say, are always at a disadvantage.

Minor corrections to last post: I was off by 1-2 in the "big eight," not ALL categories. That glory belongs to others.

And I guess "Diving Bell" isn't a foreign film according to the Academy's standards, but y'know what I meant.

Best Picture looks wide, wide open. I hope "Juno" doesn't pull an upset. Good movie, but very much outclassed by the other nominees. Of course, after "Crash" I believe the Academy capable of anything now.

You're all crazy!All nominations should go to Juno! Those songs were original at some point, the opening is animated and all that teenage slang must make it eligible for foreign language!That's only an example list, but i can slot it into any other necessary category. It's campaigning time!

You know when franchise films (The Lord of the Rings) have a lot of cast members usually very few do get a lot of work. Orlando Bloom is not very good so he doesn't count. Ian McKellen is one exception. However Viggo Mortensen is the only ex-Lord of the rings actor to do well. First was his great performance in, A History of Violence and now his Oscar nominated turn in, Eastern Promises. Also a method actor like Daniel Day-Lewis, Gary Oldman, Edward Norton and Russell Crowe. Also much kudos for Tommy Lee Jones. I counted him out too but he had one of the best performances of the year. His sullen performance was very moving.

All in all, I got 68/113 (60%) noms correct, which I'm fine with considering that 1) it was my first time predicting and 2) I had put some seriously outrageous choices there (although in some of them I truly believed).

I am most proud for identifying the exact number and categories Ratatouille would be rewarded in, and the Jolie snub (which I hadn't considered a sursprise until I saw people's reactions to it yesterday). Non-obvious things I was almost ;) right about were the cold shoulder for Into the Wild (two nominations, but I was predicting Music and Song) and a single Across the Universe sighting (but I was predicting Art Direction).

Like Nathaniel I too am a huge fan of Cate Blanchett. However she has had many roles that were just okay. However I always respected for her diversity of roles and her professionalism. I'm gonna give a scale of 1 to 10.

Elizabeth - 9The Gift - 4LOTR: TFotR: cameo, too small to rateThe Shipping News - 3Veronica Guerin - 8, Amazing!The Missing - 4The Life Aquatic - 4The Aviator - 8Babel - 6Notes on a Scandal - 6, not sure if it deserved a nomination but she was really good but Judi Dench had the better roleElizabeth: The Golden Age - 8, a very good performance despite the movie was critically pannedI'm Not There - 10, her best role to date! Riveting! Saw Gone Baby Gone don't see what all the fuss is about for Amy Ryan. The Oscar should be hers! A actor's performance should not have anything to do with a film being good. A actor's ability is what I look for.